What a Monday
by DinerGuy
Summary: It had started as such a good day. Of course, that was before the situation took a steep nosedive into "terrible" territory, and Jay found himself wrestling for control of a gun on the floor of a bank. Could things get any worse?


_A/N: Happy birthday to my partner in crime, __OllieCollie! Yes, I know it's slightly belated, but I blame Jay for not behaving with the story I had in mind. Hope you enjoy it either way - look at it like this: now, your celebration just gets to last several days longer than the weekend!_

_Standard disclaimers apply. Major thanks to dominatempore for being willing to read over it for me, even though she doesn't know the show. Such a good friend. :)_

_It's not too long, but I hope you all enjoy anyway!_

* * *

For it being a Monday, Jay's day had actually gotten off on a pretty good foot. Even when Ruzek insisted on driving to interview a suspect, he didn't complain. He'd woken up on the right side of the bed, and nothing was going to sour his mood, not even Ruzek declaring he needed to make a stop and pulling into a shopping center that had nothing to do with their case.

"The bank? Really?" Jay quirked an eyebrow. "You can't just do your business online like every other human in the twenty-first century?"

Ruzek rolled his eyes at his colleague's jesting tone. "Shut up. There are still some things it's easier to do in person you know." He put the car into park and then turned to his passenger. "You want to come with?"

That sounded like the exact opposite of what Jay would rather be doing at the moment. "Hmm. Hard decision but I _think _I'll just stay in the car. Thanks though."

"Nah, man"—Ruzek winked—"it's illegal to leave your pet in a car alone, remember?"

"Funny. What if you roll the window down?"

Ruzek shook his head. "That's no good. You might jump out and run off."

"I promise I'll be a good boy. Now, can you hurry it up so we can go get lunch? I'm starving." Jay rolled his eyes and laughed. He really was hungry, though; it was already noon.

In response, Ruzek laughed and shook his head. "Fine. I'll even leave the car running for you."

"Thank you!" Jay called as the door swung shut.

Ruzek just ignored him and headed for the bank entrance.

Still shaking his head in amusement, Jay settled back in his seat and closed his eyes. It was a nice day out, and the sun was streaming through his window. He might be stuck waiting in the car for a while, depending on how quick Ruzek's errand actually was, but he might as well make the best of it. When Jay had been in the service, he'd lived by the philosophy of sleeping whenever he could because he never knew when he'd have to rush into action. The same concept still applied as a cop now that he was back Stateside. With the way Intelligence's caseload was every day, Jay never knew when he'd have to sit up late on a stakeout or storm some creep's house in the middle of the night. And a nap in a sunlit car didn't sound like the worst idea on any day.

Of course, that was his plan, right up until he happened to open his eyes and glance out the window. That was right about the time everything started to go downhill.

Jay narrowed his eyes at the two men who were striding toward the bank. They were both of average height, one blond and the other dark-haired, dressed in nondescript, dark clothing. The blonde one of them kept looking around the parking lot periodically as if nervous about something. Jay's instincts were immediately on alert, and his eyes narrowed as he studied the men; he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something off about these guys.

Briefly, he considered considering calling it in, but then he quickly dismissed the idea. He didn't have anything to go on other than a gut feeling, and, while he could count on one hand the number of times his gut had steered him wrong, this wasn't an active case. This was literally two guys going into a bank during business hours. There were a dozen explanations of why the one man could be nervous, and Jay wasn't sure he could actually justify calling any units down to the bank on a hunch.

And then, as he watched, the men took a left turn and stepped into the thrift store next to the bank. Well, that answered that. Jay shook his head. He was getting a little too jumpy—probably a sure sign he needed lunch.

Jay checked his watch and sighed. Ruzek had been in the bank for five minutes already, and Jay wasn't sure how much longer his friend was going to take. Maybe he'd just wander inside and see if Ruzek was almost done. Mind made up, he reached over to cut the ignition and then hopped out of the car and jogged across the sidewalk and up to the glass doors.

Pushing through into the lobby, he felt the rush of the warm heater sweep over him in contrast to the cold day outside. Glancing around, he noted Ruzek quietly talking to the teller and several other customers scattered throughout the lobby. Good. If Ruzek was at the counter already, then it wouldn't be long before they were done and on their way.

Of course, that was before the situation took a steep nosedive into "terrible" territory. Apparently, his earlier optimism hadn't accounted for the pair of men in ski masks who burst through the front door and fired a gun into the ceiling.

And it had started out as such a good day, too.

"Nobody move!" one of the men shouted amid the screams from the terrified customers.

The minute the shot had gone off, Jay had instinctively crouched, only stopping his hand inches from the holster hidden under his t-shirt. Both men were armed with large, black handguns, and, even with Ruzek there, Jay didn't see a way for them to take out these robbers without almost certain collateral damage. And he wasn't willing to take that risk.

Darting a look at the counter, Jay saw Ruzek hesitating in a position similar to his own. Their eyes met, and Jay knew what his fellow detective was thinking. Ruzek tilted his head, but then the same masked man was yelling again.

"Everyone on the floor! Now! Hands above your heads!"

The customers scrambled to obey, and Jay shot one more glance at Ruzek before following suit. The bad guys weren't looking his way, so he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, quickly tapping at the screen.

One of the robbers pivoted in his direction, and Jay quickly slid the phone back into his jacket pocket and threw his hands back up before he could be spotted.

"On the floor, man!" the guy snapped. "What part of that don't you understand?" He waved his gun threateningly.

Jay nodded. "Okay, okay, I'm moving." He knelt to the tiles, which were cold through his jeans, and then lay forward on his stomach.

"Hey!" The other robber was yelling at someone outside of Jay's line of sight. "Hey! Don't do anything stupid! Just put your hands up and back away from the counter!"

The tellers, Jay thought. He hoped one of the employees had been able to get an alarm out because he wasn't sure if his own call had gone through and had no way to check without drawing the attention—and probably fire—of one of the gunmen. If Voight hadn't picked up, there was going to be one interesting voicemail to listen to later.

Yelling continued. "Now, put all the money in the bag! Right now! And don't even think about stalling!"

Jay could hear at least two of the women on the floor near him whimpering, trying to hold in their cries of fear at the terrifying situation, and his stomach clenched. He wasn't trained to just sit by in silence while people were in danger, but what else could he do?

Risking a look upward, he was relieved to find no one looking in his direction. One of the masked men was standing between the customers and the door, keeping watch on both the activity outside and the hostages inside. The other was waving his gun at the tellers behind the counter.

Jay glanced in the direction of the women and managed to catch them looking his way. He slowly raised a finger to his lips and then smiled encouragingly. 'It's gonna be okay,' he mouthed, careful not to make a sound that might draw the ire of any of the gunmen. Hopefully, everyone would remain calm, these guys would clear out, and then the CPD could promptly arrest all of them. Jay was pretty sure he could even ID the crooks; he had a pretty strong feeling these were the same men he'd clocked in the parking lot not five minutes earlier.

Of course, that's how it would have played out in a perfect world. In the current one, however, things went quite a bit differently.

The sound of a door opening came from somewhere off to Jay's right, and he instinctively glanced in that direction. Any hopes he had of it just being a phantom sound were dashed when a middle-aged woman walked out of a hallway in the side of the room. A sign on the wall next to the doorway showed the public restrooms were in that same direction.

_"Who are you?" _The man by the counter swung around, his gun pointing in the newcomer's direction.

Jay risked looking up at the other man and noticed by his body language he was just as nervous as his buddy. In the same glance, Jay also noticed Ruzek glancing around the room, taking in the situation the same as he was.

But any hope either of them had that the woman wouldn't escalate the situation fizzled out as her eyes grew even wider. She clutched her chest and started to shake her head from side to side.

"Get out here and get on the floor!" the gunman nearest to the door ordered. He was still yelling, but Jay could detect a waver in his tone that told just how much this wrinkle had thrown him. Turning toward the counter, where his buddy was watching the tellers work to fill the bags they had been handed, the man directed his anger that way as well. "Hurry it up!

Jay's attention was still firmly on the woman who was now close to the other hostages. Thankfully, she didn't seem _too _hysterical, although it was obvious she was still trying to hold back her emotions.

However, the robber was impatient. He stalked over and grabbed her arm, eliciting a small cry from his target. "Get over there and shut up!"

"Hey!" Jay tried. Probably not his best moment, but he was genuinely concerned the man was going to end up shooting someone, and he figured he ought to try to diffuse the situation as best as he could. If nothing else, at least the guy's attention would be on Jay and not on the poor woman who was clearly scared out of her mind and sobbing now, shaking with the effort of trying to stifle her tears.

Sure enough, the gun swung in Jay's direction as the robber pushed the terrified hostage toward the other customers. She literally collapsed, and Jay could see one of the other women on the floor slowly reach over to rub her arm encouragingly.

"What do you want?" The growl drew Jay's attention to the masked face now glaring down at him. "You a wise guy or somethin'?"

"Or something," Jay offered. "Look, man," he continued, making sure to keep his arms out to seem as harmless as possible, "I'm just tryin' to help, okay? Everyone here is really scared, okay? So why don't you and your friend just take what you came here for and go? There's even a back door you can use to avoid any cops; they won't have it covered right away if they're just pulling up out front." He could feel Ruzek shooting him a look from across the room, but he didn't dare glance at his friend. Instead, he just kept his eyes fixed on the figure looming above him and tried to look as unassuming as possible.

Through the holes cut in the mask, Jay could see the man's eyes studying him, and the detective thought he saw a flicker of something there… something that looked like the guy might actually believe what Jay had just told him.

And that's when things really got bad.

The sudden wailing of sirens streamed through the windows and threw the robbers into even more of a panic.

"You're done talking!" the man Jay had been trying to reason with snapped, pointing his gun at Jay threateningly. "Not another word—from any of you!" he added. "I hear a sound and I shoot; no questions asked. Got it?"

He crossed to the door and threw the deadbolt, then peered out to survey the activity outside. "We gotta move!" he barked. "The cops are just down the block!"

"Almost done!" snapped the one nearest the tellers.

When he looked back on that day later on, Jay would be hard-pressed to recount exact details of what had gone down. Everything happened so fast, the movements a blur in his memory.

One of the female hostages whimpered out loud, causing the nearest gunman to swing and point his gun in her direction.

"Did you think I was joking?" he yelled as he stalked over from the door.

That was when Jay made up his mind. He knew it was a no-win situation; these guys had more firepower than he and Ruzek, and there were too many innocents close by who might get caught in the crossfire. But Jay also knew he couldn't stand aside and let anyone be murdered either.

Jay threw a quick look in Ruzek's direction and hoped it was enough to convey what he was about to do. He had to move _now._ With any luck, the other detective knew what Jay was thinking and would act accordingly. But there was no time to wait, so Jay just went for it.

The would-be shooter's finger was tightening on the trigger as Jay hit him. Grabbing the guy's arm, Jay forced it up even as his tackle brought the two of them down to the ground. A round fired off above their heads, and then Jay was slamming the guy's hand on the ground, trying to get him to release the weapon.

The pistol fell out of the guy's grasp as Jay intended, but it didn't go very far. And then the guy threw Jay off to the side and then rolled over and regained control of the gun. Jay scrambled for it again, knowing he had to keep the guy from firing a shot that could hit someone at all costs.

He could hear another struggle near the bank counter and was grateful it seemed Ruzek had followed his lead and taken on the other robber.

But then Jay's attention was pulled back to the moment as the man he was wrestling smashed his fist into the side of Jay's head. Everything grew fuzzy for a second, and the only thought running through Jay's mind was, _'Don't let him go.'_

They rolled again, and the guy was now on top of him again. They struggled a moment longer, and Jay thought he might finally be gaining the upper hand. In the next second, Jay managed to buck upward and roll the two of them to the left, the momentum carrying them over several times.

When they finally stopped, Jay was on top. The two of them were wrestling with the gun, Jay desperately trying to get the guy's hands unwrapped from around the pistol's grip and his foe hanging on just as desperately.

Noises from the direction of the door broke into Jay's concentration, but he didn't dare look that way.

Several things happened in the next few seconds that took the situation from the vicinity of very bad all the way to absolutely terrible.

When the shot went off, it took a moment for Jay to realize it wasn't the other robber's gun or even from one of the arriving police. His ears were ringing, and he blinked down at the other man in confusion. Somehow, in their struggle for the weapon, one of their hands must have brushed the trigger a little too hard.

The two men stared at each other for a moment longer—and that was when the pain hit Jay with all the force of a semi-truck.

It started just below his ribcage and radiated upward, sliding its thick, agonizing fingers up his spine and across his shoulders. The gash on his temple where he'd been pistol-whipped started throbbing ten times as painfully.

He gasped in a breath that didn't seem to make it to his lungs even as his opponent shoved him up and sideways. The hard floor was unforgiving as Jay felt himself crash to the tiles. He knew he'd landed in a crumpled heap, but he couldn't really process anything past the sheer blinding fire now rushing through him.

Jay groaned and tried to force himself to his feet. The robber was getting away, and Jay couldn't let him hurt anyone else—but he also couldn't get his legs to obey.

It sounded like static was filling his ears and darkness was encroaching on the edges of his vision and the world was spinning around him and he just _couldn't focus._

His hands scrabbled for the source of the pain in his abdomen. He could feel his fingers getting slick with blood—his blood, he noted with displeasure—and then—_Ahh! That_hurt _right there_—he found the offending spot and tried pressing down on it. All he could think was he needed to apply pressure, needed to keep himself from bleeding out, but he just couldn't seem to apply what his mind was telling him was needed.

Suddenly, there were more hands, pushing his away, and Jay grunted. All he could think was his opponent must be back to finish him off, and he couldn't let that happen.

"Jay! Jay, stop, man!"

Wait, that voice… he knew that voice. Who was— _Ow__!_

Someone was pushing on him, _hard_.

"Hey, come on, Jay. Can you hear me? Open your eyes, bud."

"—mm." That was the last thing he wanted to do. He just wanted everything to _stop _, for—who was that, Ruzek?—to leave him alone and stop _touching _him because everything_hurt._

"Jay."

Okay, but now he felt bad because his friend sounded worried. Feeling guilty, Jay squinted his eyes open and peered upward.

Ruzek's face softened as he saw Jay's vision lazily focusing on him. "There you are."

Jay frowned and started to say something, then winced again at the pressure on his side. He settled for just raising an eyebrow in question.

Thankfully, the other man interpreted the look correctly. "Yeah, we got 'em," he assured Jay. "Right after you decided to go and get yourself shot, Atwater and Upton showed up. Turns out they were a few blocks over when Voight got your phone call."

Ah, so his plan had worked. Jay felt a flicker of satisfaction at that.

He didn't even notice his eyes had slid closed until he heard Ruzek calling his name again.

"Jay? Jay, come on. Open your eyes. You gotta stay with me, man."

He didn't want to listen. His head hurt and his side hurt—scratch that; _everything _hurt—and he wanted nothing more than just to give in to the shadows crawling around the sides of his vision.

"Jay!" The raised tone was accompanied by someone patting his cheek, which drew his eyes open again. "Hey," Ruzek continued as he looked down at Jay in concern, "I know it's hard, bro, but you need to stay with me, 'kay? Paramedics should be here any minute."

"But—" Jay coughed, and then groaned as he felt the pressure on his side renew with vigor. _"Ow."_

"I know. I'm sorry," the other man said in sympathy. "Would you rather me let you bleed out on the floor?"

Jay just glared at him. He couldn't find the energy to respond.

"How is he?" A new voice met Jay's ears, and he knew who it was even before Upton's face appeared in his line of sight. She looked even more worried than Ruzek.

Ruzek turned to look her way. "He'll be okay. Where's that ambulance?"

"Almost here," came the reply.

Jay was trying to stay focused on his two teammates, really he was; he didn't _mean _to disobey Ruzek's orders to stay awake, but he was so _tired _and everything was still out of focus and it was just so _hard._

He was doing his best, but his disorientation was slowly winning out. He vaguely heard both voices calling his name, but they sounded like they were at the far end of a tunnel as he slowly sank into the soft, welcoming darkness.

So much for the great start to his day.

When his eyes opened again, everything was still moving, but even faster than a few moments before. He felt like he was going to be sick. Oh, he was going to be sick. Swallowing against the nauseousness that threatened to overwhelm him and only partially winning that battle, he blinked his eyes open blearily. He could see his surroundings shaking and moving, and he closed his eyes tightly and then opened them again. This time, he could tell he was on a gurney, rolling across the parking lot outside of the bank.

There were people all over the place, although he couldn't focus enough on any one figure to identify any of them. He could hear voices, but they were all a low buzz, and he wasn't really sure who was saying what.

And then the gurney lifted upward into the back of the ambulance, and Jay's stomach churned. He shut his eyes against the wave of nausea and felt himself being settled into the back of the vehicle.

As much as he wanted to stay awake and aware of what was going on—and who had picked him up anyway? Was it one of the ambo crews he knew?—he felt unconsciousness tugging at him again and gave in without much of a fight.

He was out before Brett climbed in behind him.

Some time later, Jay's eyes flickered back open. In contrast to the chaos and roaring in his ears before, he was met with stillness. Blinking upward, he took in the off-white ceiling tiles and then let his gaze slowly wander downward. Hospital room. Right. That made sense.

He shifted tentatively, feeling the bed beneath him various wires running from his arms. There was no pain, but everything was hazy—which also made sense. They probably had him on the really good stuff. Which was fine with him, to be honest; he wasn't really that keen on feeling the pain that probably existed past the blur of the drugs.

There was a shuffling noise off to his right, and Jay slowly tilted his head toward it. The corner of his mouth tilted up in a half-grin as he saw Ruzek watching him.

"Hey," Ruzek greeted quietly.

Jay tilted his head ever so slightly. "Hey," he croaked back.

Ruzek reached for something and then his hand came back into Jay's line of sight holding a cup. "Here," he offered, scooping something out of the paper cup with a spoon. "I called the nurse; they should be here in a sec."

Gladly accepting the ice chip, Jay closed his eyes for a moment as the cool liquid melted over his tongue.

"Oh, thought you might want to know everyone at the bank made it out safely, thanks to you," Ruzek informed him. "And it turns out both of the robbers already had warrants out for assault and theft, so they'll be going away for a while."

That was good news, Jay decided as he let his eyes slip closed again.

He was jostled awake by movement at his side, and he blinked at the nurse who had appeared beside his bed. She was reading something from the monitor by his bed and making notes on a clipboard. When she noticed the patient watching her, she smiled kindly.

"Welcome back," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," Jay quipped weakly.

She shook her head. "Understandable. Your brother is going to be in to check on you in a few minutes, okay?"

As she reached over to adjust the blood pressure cuff on his arm, Jay rolled his head to the other side to look at Ruzek, who was still in the chair by his bed. "You didn't mention Will was here."

Ruzek raised an eyebrow. "Figured I didn't have to. You think he was gonna stay out of this?"

Yeah, that sounded like Will all right. Jay settled back against his pillows, letting out a small sigh and closing his eyes. He'd have plenty of people to talk to later—starting with a more in-depth conversation with Ruzek and the lecture he'd undoubtedly end up with from Will about keeping himself out of the ER and then the visitors he was sure to have once the rest of the team decided to start streaming in—but he didn't quite have the energy to think about that at the moment.

But the civilians were all safe, Ruzek was safe, and Jay himself would be fine after some recovery time. It hadn't been the greatest day in his life, but he supposed it wasn't the worst he'd seen either.

Even for it being a Monday.

* * *

_Fin._


End file.
